Subscribe Now: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
There is a common belief that keeps a lot of business owners stuck.
It sounds like this:
“I should wait until my funnel is fully converting before I run Facebook™ ads.”
On the surface, it sounds sensible. Fix the funnel first, then drive traffic. In reality, it often leads to months of tweaking, second guessing and “getting ready”, while very few people are actually seeing the offer.
The truth sits somewhere in the middle. You do not need a perfectly converting funnel before you run ads. You also cannot expect ads to fix a funnel that is not clear or compelling.
In this post, I want to show you how to use ads as a smart testing tool, what you need in place before you start and how to keep your structure simple so you are not wasting time or money.
Why waiting for “perfect” keeps you in preparation mode
You might have heard advice like, “Fix your funnel first, then run ads.”
There is some truth in that. If your offer is confusing, your landing page is messy and your emails are not aligned, Facebook™ ads will not magically rescue the situation.
However, there is a downside to taking that advice too literally. You can easily spend months trying to perfect your funnel in the dark. You tweak headlines. You change page layouts. You rewrite emails. All based on guesses or a very small number of organic visitors.
Without enough traffic, it is hard to know what is actually working. You end up refining a funnel that has not really been tested.
How ads can act as an accelerator for learning
This is where ads can be incredibly helpful, even before your funnel is “proven”.
If you approach them with the right mindset, you are not paying only for leads or sales. You are paying for speed and clarity.
A small daily budget, even between $10 and $20 a day, can help you answer important questions quickly:
- Is your messaging resonating
- Are people clicking through from the ad to the landing page
- Is the landing page converting visitors into leads
- Where in the journey are people dropping off
- Is the lead magnet the right one to lead people towards purchasing
Instead of waiting weeks or months for enough organic traffic to trickle through, you get real data from real potential clients in a matter of days. You can then use that information to tweak and improve your funnel with confidence.
Ads do not fix broken funnels
The other side of the story is just as important.
Ads can help you test a funnel. They do not fix a broken one.
If your offer is not clear, your message is off or your landing page confuses people, ads will simply send more people into a poor experience. You will see clicks, but very few conversions. That is when people say, “Ads do not work,” when the real problem is the funnel itself.
So if you are going to use ads to test, you still need a few critical pieces in place.
Four things to have in place before you test with ads
1. A clear, outcome focused offer
Your audience does not buy features or vague promises. They buy transformation.
Your offer needs to be easy to understand and specific about the result. For example, “Book out your 1:1 coaching spots in 30 days,” or “Get 100 quality leads in under 4 weeks.” If the outcome takes a lot of explaining, people will scroll past, no matter how clever the ad looks.
2. Messaging that speaks to real pain points and desires
This is where many funnels fall over.
If your ads and landing page do not speak directly to what your ideal clients are struggling with, and what they want instead, results will always feel flat.
Ask yourself:
What are they googling late at night
What have they already tried that has not worked
What are they frustrated or fed up with
Use their language. Show that you understand them better than most. That is how you get attention and trust.
3. A professional, fast loading landing page
Once you have paid for the click, your landing page has one job. Capture the lead or the sale.
The page needs to look clean and trustworthy, especially on mobile. It should load within a few seconds, have a headline that matches the ad and give just enough information for someone to say yes without feeling overwhelmed.
If the page feels clunky or confusing, people will leave. Your cost per lead will climb.
4. The right tracking set up with Meta™
Meta™ can only optimise based on the data you give it.
You need to use the right objective at the campaign level, such as Leads or Conversions, and track the right events on your site. That might be standard events like Lead and Purchase, or custom conversions.
If you only optimise for clicks with the Traffic objective, Meta™ will happily find people who like clicking links. It will not focus on finding people who are likely to opt in or buy. When you track and optimise for the action you actually want, your ads have a much better chance of improving over time.
A simple way to start testing ads
When you are ready to use ads to test your funnel, keep the setup lean. You do not need a complex structure.
Here is a simple starting point:
- One campaign with the right objective, usually Leads or Conversions
- Meta™ Advantage+ placements, so the algorithm can find your people across placements
- A handful of creatives, such as static images, talking head reels and B-Roll reels
- Clear, benefit led copy that focuses on the outcome and speaks to real pain points
Give the campaign 48 to 72 hours, then look at the numbers.
Which ads are getting the strongest click through rate
Which landing page variations are converting best
Where do people seem to drop off
Make changes based on real data, not guesswork. Once you see a combination of ad, landing page and offer converting at a level you are happy with, then you can call that funnel “proven” and choose to scale.
Final thoughts
So, do you need a fully converting funnel before you run ads?
No. You need a clear offer, strong messaging, a solid landing page and tracking that tells Meta™ what success looks like. Then you can use ads as part of your testing and feedback process.
Ads are not the finish line. They are the accelerant that helps you figure out what needs improving, fast. In a world where organic reach is declining and your time is precious, that speed is valuable, as long as you are prepared to keep tweaking and optimising based on what the data shows you.
If you are ready to take that next step, and you want help building a funnel that actually converts with ads that bring in leads for $3 or less, make sure you check out my free on demand training, “How to Get 100 Leads in the Next 30 Days with Just $10 a Day on Ads.” You can get instant access here: https://learn.webonize.com.au/100leads
I would love to hear your thoughts...